Marios Schwab / Fall 2012 RTW

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There aren’t many young designers in London who formulate their thinking around the ideal of a cool sophisticate, but that’s what makes Marios Schwabstand apart. In his imagination, she’s “a femme fatale, someone anonymous, powerful, intelligent, who you only glimpse but can’t forget.” Scroll to the end of his show, and you’ll see how his obsession with bringing this persona to life has been matched by sewing skills that have reached an almost virtuoso level. His head-turningly beautiful, semi-transparent, finely beaded evening dresses—layers of tulle floating mesmerizingly, delicate embroidery—would have a drop-dead impact on any red carpet.

Old Hollywood was the starting point for these dresses—though new Hollywood is where they should be destined. “I studied the ‘naked’ dresses Marlene Dietrich designed for herself at the end of her career,” Schwab said. “She had them made with all these sequins she sprinkled in strategic places to seem nude, while really showing nothing.” But there was no razzmatazz—glitz or obvious vintage-referencing in the outcome—just a sequence of gowns, covered from neck to floor, constructed with beaded underslips to give a veiled hint at sequined corsetry when the dress was in motion. They capture a precise moment in fashion’s contradictory desires now—providing that brilliantly modern illusion of being modestly covered up while still showing plenty of body.

Building up to this stunning finale, the rest of the collection ran from tailored day dresses to lacquered lace sheath dresses, blouses, knits, and belted leather trenches. The continuous design thread—motifs gleaned from Spirograph patterns, the tendrilly forms of Art Nouveau architecture, and Schwab’s fascination with Man Ray’s solarized photographs—appeared in curviform insets of leather, scrolled-edged “windows” in sweaters, and double-layered two-tone chiffon blouses. Those pieces flesh out the day wardrobe for the elusive modern heroine Schwab has in mind. But really, it’s the eveningwear, some of it inset with crystal necklaces inspired by Gloria Vanderbilt’s jewels, that’s likely to resonate not so much in London as with the stylists who are beginning to watch Schwab’s every move from L.A.